William James on Once- vs. Twice-born Believers

Dr. David Peña-Guzmán, Philosophy professor and co-host of the Overthink podcast, discusses psychologist and philosopher William James and the concept of the once- and twice-born believers from his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. In the second video in our new series of video lectures on mind, consciousness, and self, David outlines how James' figures, the once- and twice-born believers, reveal the condition of the divided self. How can both figures become pathological? What is the mystical truth of human existence, according to James?

Graphics and editing by Aaron Morgan

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[Entheos]

Thanks Dr. David! You explain in 16 minutes what others do in an hour. I love how you simplify all the concepts so that it is effortless to learn and fun. I am thumbing all your William James videos up because they are all very exciting to learn about. Keep up the good work! :)

[TheMirabillis]

I have really enjoyed these last two episodes on James. I have gained a lot from them.

[hotPINKxoxo]

Again I just wanna say Again how excited I am to see religion and belief talked about here on the channel Again really interested in these things

[nkanyezitshabalala]

There is a character from a TV series who really embodies that 'new age spirituality' - Adam Newmann's wife from WeCrashed. God, she sounded ridiculous🤣 The way you expressed it (at 7:38) brought back a lot of memories of watching the series.

[eqapo]

I was twice-born into a once-born life

[nkanyezitshabalala]

There are some similarities between James' and Hegel's conceptualisation of the attitudes of Stoics (or Stoicism) and Christianity. I wonder if there is any significance to this?

[TheChurchofBreadandCheese]

someone get this man to drop his skincare routine

[TheChurchofBreadandCheese]

I am actually very interested in how he thinks Epicurus would experience Anhedonia, I know his ideas about ataraxia are sometimes seen as a form of asceticism but he also has quotes attributed to him talking about not knowing the Good without the experience of sex.